L'amour á Paris
by StoryMage
Summary: Meet Romano Calligaris, a new French-Italian actor. He has just moved to Paris, France with his manager, Hiroko Sato. Romano's life takes an unexpected turn in both excitement and romance. How is Romano an important addition to Ladybug's and Chat Noir's Life? What will happen in Romano's life that will change his life forever? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

"Roma, wake up, sweetie."

I groaned in annoyance and opened my eyes. "What is it?" I asked sitting up from the car seat that I had slept on throughout most of the ride.

"We're finally here! Paris, the city of passion and love. Aren't you excited?"

I looked at my manager, Hiroko, and narrowed my eyes. "No." I lied back down on the car seat and tried to fall back asleep.

" _Roma_ …"

"I just want to get the movie over with and go back home. Nobody wants me here, so what's the point in coming a year early and practically living here."

"You have your mother's sour attitude towards these things. Be happier." I groaned in response and tried to cover my face with my blanket. "Think more positively. Maybe you'll make some friends for a change. Maybe something life-changing will happen. Maybe you'll fall in love. You never know."

I gave a frustrated sigh as I sat up. "Well, I'm officially up." I lightly glared at Hiroko. "Happy?"

"Ecstatic, and I'm sure you will be too when we grab you a cup of coffee and a bite to eat."

I shook my head as a smile made its way onto my face and I moved to grab my camera from my bag. "Did we pass the Eiffel Tower yet?" I looked out the window to look for the famous tower.

"Not yet." She pulled out her phone scrolled through something. "The first day of school starts this Monday."

"Great," I mumbled sarcastically as I kept my focus on staring out the window.

"So, because we arrived on a Saturday evening, you have all night to unpack and maybe you can wander around tomorrow."

I nodded and watched as my breath fogged up the window. "Hiroko?"

"Yes, Roma?"

"Why are we really here?"

I heard her sigh. "You seemed like you needed a break from your family." I huffed and continued to look at the foggy window. "I know your sister means a lot to you and you wanted to bring her, but your mother's a bit…" She trailed off.

"Bad. I know."

"Yeah. Too carefree and irresponsible when it comes to her kids. Your younger siblings need a caring person to take care of them." I felt her place her hand on top of my head. "If it's not you, then it's the next best thing, Astride." I felt my eyes water slightly at the mention of my sister's name. "Roma, I've met your father before." I looked at her, surprised. "Faustino is a good man. He's caring, supportive, and just a loving person in general. You have those qualities inside you too, which makes you a great person for others to have. You're mother used to be like that too, but she slowly got obsessed with being wealthy. Why do you think she's with her boyfriend?" She rubbed the tips of her fingers together. "He has money. You're mother's changed, and not in a good way. Do you think I don't notice the marks on your skin?"

I looked down at my camera and inhaled a shaky breath. "Why do you know so much?"

"I've been friends with both your mother and father since my high school years and I do research on my clients."

My grip tightened on my camera. "I miss _papà_."

Hiroko placed her hand on my own. "Romano, he has his reasons to leave you and your sister."

"Why?"

She pulled her hand away. "I'm sorry. I can't tell you, it's too dangerous for you to know."

I sighed, disappointed. "Okay." Hiroko stayed silent and I wiped the tears that had slid out of my eyes.

"Monsieur, can you please take us to the Eiffel Tower for a quick moment?"

" _Bien sur, Madame_." The chauffeur replied as he turned a corner.

"Roma, cheer up, okay." I sighed and looked back out the window. "How about this, we play a small game." I looked back at her skeptically. "It's simple, you tell me three positive things about moving here and... let's see... I'll tell you something about either about your father or your family origin, your pick."

I sat up excitedly. "Oh, that's easy. There's-"

"Ah, ah, ah~ They have to actually happen."

"Are you kidding me?"

" _What_? You can't just lie your way towards answers. Plus, you have to have more positivity about things."

I sighed and slumped down in my seat. " _Fine._ "

" _Nous sommes arrivés, Madame_." The chauffeur smoothly said as he parked.

I looked out the window and stared at the Eiffel Tower in awe. " _Wow!_ " I grabbed my camera and opened the car door before rushing out. I ran towards the tower and stopped when I reached the end of the road that the car was parked on. "Hiroko, hurry up!" I called out as I snapped a few photos of the tower, changing the angle after every three photos.

I heard a light, heartfelt laugh from behind me as I continued to snap away. "Roma, you're too much." I felt Hiroko ruffle my hair. "Do whatever you like, but remember that we still have yet to reach our house and unpack."

I snapped one last photo and stared up at the top of the tower. "Do you think we can go to the top so I could snap some pictures of the city, but during the night?"

"Of course, whatever you want."

I sighed and looked down at my camera. "Does this count?"

"What?"

I looked at her. "For a positive thing about moving here."

She smiled. "Sure."

I smiled triumphantly and looked back down at my camera. "Let's go. I don't want to lose any free time tomorrow." I said as I turned on my heel to walk back to the car.

"Roma, I know you'll love it here." She said as she walked beside me.

I shook my head and got back into the car. "Maybe I will, maybe I won't, but I know I'm going to miss Nice." I put on my seatbelt and put my camera away.

Hiroko made her way inside the car and leaned forward to speak to the chauffeur. "Can you take us to our apartment, _Monsieur_."

The chauffeur smiled as he nodded. " _Bien sur_ , _Madame_."

Hiroko sighed as she leaned back. "You have a small interview tomorrow." She quickly clicked on her seat belt when the car gently moved onto the street. "They just want to learn more about who you are and about your role in " _Risque Dans la Mariée_.""

" _Already_? We haven't even finished with the casting."

"Well, now you have something to talk about during the interview." She ran a hand through her dark hair. She closed her eyes and sighed. She mumbled something in her native language as she rubbed her face tiredly. "The interview won't take long, so you'll have the rest of the day to spend it as you like, either with or without me. It's your choice."

I nodded and noticed that the car was once again slowing down to a stop, but this time it had stopped in front of a small apartment complex. The chauffeur turned to look at us. "Here we are, _Madame_."

Hiroko smiled at him. "Thank you, Avellino." She grabbed her purse jumped slightly when the chauffeur opened the door for her. I chuckled and grabbed my bookbag and blanket before getting out of the car myself. I saw Hiroko making her way towards the complex. "This way, Roma!"

I nodded and made my way to the back of the car, where Avellino was taking out our luggage.

He noticed me and flashed me a smile. "You seemed to have slept well, _Monsieur_ Romano." He said as he pulled out one of my luggage.

I smiled along with him and pulled my luggage closer to me. "Yeah, but that was until the beast woke me up." I quickly looked behind me to see if Hiroko was behind me. "Don't tell Hiroko that I said that," I whispered to him.

He laughed and pulled out my duffel bag. "I'm sure she isn't that bad, _Monsieur_."

"She's not, but when she's tired or just woken up…" I trailed off and rubbed the back of my neck.

Avellino laughed again. " _Je comprends_ , I understand. My sister is the same. Sweetest girl you'll meet until her beauty sleep is disturbed." He pulled out the last two luggage as he laughed lightly. I smiled and grabbed the handle of my luggage, getting ready to pull. "Ah, _Monsieur_ , there's no need to do that. I can bring it up."

I shook my head as I grabbed my duffel bag after adjusting my bookbag on my shoulders. "It's fine, it'll be quicker with two people."

A look of uncertainty flashed on his face and he sighed. "Whatever you wish, _Monsieur_."

"Roma. You can call me Roma." I said before making my way to the complex.

I saw Hiroko walk out from the complex empty-handed. She walked towards me and patted my head. "Our apartment number is 202."

"Okay, thanks." I walked to the complex and made my way up the stairs, following the signs to the second floor. I saw room number 245 and sighed, making my way through the long, nicely decorated hallway. "210, 208…" I mumbled as I walked a bit faster to reach our new apartment. _202_. The door was left ajar and I pushed it open, revealing a nicely furnished living room. I walked into the apartment, looking around the room. I dropped my duffel bag on the hardwood floor along with my bookbag then leaned my luggage against the wall. I placed my hand against the powder blue wall while I scanned the room.

"Do you like it?" I jumped and looked behind me to see Hiroko. She walked towards me and placed her own luggage beside mine. "I had bought some furniture online and had them delivered here. I tried to make it seem like home for you."

I smiled and gave her a small hug. "Thank you, Hiroko."

"You're welcome, Roma." She grabbed one of my bags. "I'll show you your room, okay." I grabbed my other bag and my luggage and followed her as she walked over to a small hallway that was painted a steel blue. She led through until we reached the second door to the right. She opened the door revealing a plain room, which only consisted of a sheetless bed that was between two Portofino France bedside tables and the boxes I had packed before coming here with Hiroko. "I didn't know what color you had wanted your room to be, so I kept it at white. If you want to change it just tell me."

I nodded. "Thanks, Hiroko." I walked into my new room and looked around, mainly noticing the glass door that revealed a balcony. I put both my luggage and my bookbag on my bed, Hiroko doing the same with my duffel bag.

Hiroko went to leave, but she stopped at the door. "I had them deliver some ingredients to the house either this morning or last night. Is there anything specific you would want for dinner?"

I shook my head. "Not really…" I unzipped my luggage and opened it. "Actually... Can you make something Italian." I pulled out some of my clothes. "Something _papà_ would make."

I heard her chuckle slightly. "Sure." Her heels clicked against the floor as she walked off.

I looked around my room again and noticed a door. _Probably the closet._ I walked towards it and opened it, revealing a decently sized walk-in closet which already had hangers and a shoe rack at the bottom. I turned on the light in the closet before grabbing the clothes from my luggage and started to hang them up.

" _Monsieur_ Romano?"

I stepped out from the closet to see Avellino standing in my doorway. "You can come in," I said as I grabbed more clothes to put inside my closet. "And didn't I say that you can call me Roma."

"Ah, yes, you did. Pardon, I am used to being formal." He said as he brought another one of my luggage inside my room. "Oh, and _Mons_ \- Roma, here is my card." I looked at him as I placed one of my shirts on a hanger. I held out my hand and he gave his card to me. "If you need a ride anywhere, just give me a call. I am your personal driver after all." I looked down at the card. _Avellino Deniaud._

"Thank you, Avellino. I'll take note of that." I put the card in my pocket and continued to put my clothes away.

" _Bonne nuit_ , Roma. I'll see you tomorrow."

" _Buona notte_ , Avellino."

"Ah... Pardon?"

"It's Italian," I said monotonously. "Sorry, I keep forgetting that I'm not living in Italy anymore."

"No, no, it's fine. _Au Revoir_."

" _Au Revoir_..." I mumbled as I watched him leave my room. "Or addio…" I grabbed the rest of my clothes and brought them to my closet. "They mean the same just like _bonne nuit_ and _buona notte_ ," I mumbled more simple and complex comparisons of both Italian and French.

"Roma! Dinner is ready!" I heard Hiroko call, snapping me out of my annoyed thoughts.

"Coming!" I folded the jeans that I held in my hands and placed them in one of my drawers, before turning off the closet light. I walked out of my room over to the living room.

I saw Hiroko placing two plates on a small table. She smiled at me and went over to a small kitchen, opening the refrigerator. "What do want to drink?"

"Water is fine," I said as I made my way towards the table. "What did you make?" I asked as I sat down.

Hiroko walked back to the table, holding two glasses of water. "It's called _Pollo Puttanesca_. Your father left a bunch of his recipes with your mom, but she never used them." She set my glass in front of me. "I found them and got permission to take them." I nodded and took a sip of my water before starting on my dinner.

Our meal was silent. Neither of us had anything to say. Nothing was on our minds that night.

When I finished eating, I stood up and grabbed my plate. "It was good," I said to Hiroko as I placed my plate in the sink. "I'll be in my room unpacking."

"Okay, I'll bring you a small cup of coffee for you when I'm done," Hiroko said before taking a sip of her water.

A yawn left my mouth at the mention of the warm drink. "Okay, thanks." I made my way to my room and started back on putting my clothes away.

By the time I was done with putting my clothes away from both my luggage and a few boxes - along with separating the different outfits that I plan to wear throughout the week - it had already become dark outside. I sighed as I switched off the closet light and sat down on my bed.

"Knock, knock." I looked over at my door to see Hiroko holding a mug. She switched on my room light and walked over to me. "I forgot to order some coffee for us, so I made some hot chocolate instead." She said as she handed me the mug.

"Oh, that's fine. Thanks, Hiroko."

She ruffled my hair. "Don't stay up too late. If you need help, I'll be working in the living room." She said as she left my room.

I blew on my hot chocolate. "Okay."

I sipped at my chocolate drink, enjoying its warmth. I closed my eyes in content... until I heard a light tap. My eyes snapped open and I looked at the glass door. I set down the mug on the bedside table and walked over to the door. I noticed a dark figure standing on the railing of the balcony. I opened the door causing the figure to look back at me. "I suggest you leave before you go splat on the ground," I said, preparing to attack the stranger. _This probably isn't a good idea._

The stranger laughed, making my breath get caught in my throat at the warm sound. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." The stranger stepped down and I saw that it was a boy who was wearing a skin-tight suit that adorned cat-like features. I glared at his masked face when he stepped closer. "I was just doing my nightly watch."

I watched him carefully, studying his features as I replied. "I'm sorry, I don't think Hiroko or I asked for a stripper-looking person to be on our property."

His cat-like eyes widened. "I don't look like a stripper!" He looked down at his outfit. "Do I?"

I chuckled slightly at his reaction. "Who are you anyway?" I asked, staring at the golden bell that rested on his neck.

"Me? I am _Chat Noir_." He said as he posed ridiculously and I gave him a skeptical look. I shook my head and moved to go back inside to go get Hiroko. "Wait, you seem _fur-miliar_."

I stopped and turn to face him. "You did not just do a cat pun."

" _J'ai fait_." He said smugly.

I scoffed and grabbed my hot chocolate. _This will get interesting._ I leaned against the door. "So… If you're not a stripper, then what are you, _Gatto Nero._ " I asked, sipping at my drink.

"Oooh~ Italian~" He moved closer, making me take a step away from him. " _Meow_ you have me interested." He grabbed my mug and took a quick sip.

I smacked his arm. "Hey! That's mine!" I snatched the mug away from him. "And stop with the cat puns, they're awful."

"You mean _claw-ful._ "

I groaned in annoyance. "You've got to be kidding me."

"You mean _kitten me._ " He reached for the mug again and I pulled it away from him. "You've got to admit, my puns are good."

I chuckled. _Fine, if he wants to play…_ "Okay, okay. I'll admit, they are a bit _claw-ver_ , maybe even a bit _hiss-terical._ "

He laughed and patted my head. "See, you get it."

I swatted his hand away and made my way back inside my room. " _Sì_ , _sì_. You didn't answer my question, _Gatto Nero._ "

"It's _Chat Noir._ " I heard him mumble.

He made his way into my room and I nearly choked on my hot chocolate at his appearance. I started to cough. "Are you _sure_ you're not a stripper?" I asked as I stared at his lightly toned body.

He looked around my room. " _Paw-sitive._ "

I tore my gaze away and placed my hot chocolate down. "Right…" I moved a few boxes around and found a box that showed a picture of a desk.

"No, really. I'm a-"

"Roma?" I heard Hiroko call from the living room. "Who are you talking to?"

I opened the box and started to pull out parts of the desk I was going to build. "Someone who calls himself _Gatto Nero._ " I heard Chat Noir give an exasperated sigh when I said his name in Italian.

I heard Hiroko's padded footsteps walk towards my room at a fast pace. "Who?" She stopped at my door and just stared at Chat Noir. "Um…"

He held his hands up in defense. "I can explain."

"Please don't explain with your terrible cat puns," I told Chat Noir.

"Hey, you were the one who called them clever." He retorted.

"You mean _claw-ver._ "

" _Ā kami._ " I heard Hiroko groan. She pinched the bridge of her nose and she looked down at her phone that she held in her other hand. "You must be…" She lightly squinted in concentration. "Chat Noir?" She looked back up at him quizzically. "Right? You're a superhero who works with Ladybug."

"Un coccinella?" I shook my head. "Wait, you're a superhero?"

Chat Noir flashed me a smile. "To both your questions: yes." A small beep resonated throughout my room. He looked down at the back of his hand. "Oops, I've been here for too long. I better scat." He said as he grabbed my mug and went back onto the balcony. "See you around!" I watched as he hopped onto the balcony railing, sending a two-finger salute towards me, before jumping off.

I looked at Hiroko. " _He's_ a superhero?"

"Yes." She moved to kneel next to me and she showed me her phone, which had a picture of Chat Noir and a female who wore a red bodysuit with black spots. Hiroko pointed at the girl. "That's Ladybug."

"I can't believe that he's a superhero." I glared at the balcony. "He _stole_ my hot chocolate."

Hiroko laughed and stood up. "I'll get you some tools." She said as she walked out.

I hummed and placed my head on a nearby box and waited for her. _That stupid Gatto Nero stole my hot chocolate._ A yawn left my mouth and I closed my eyes. _Paris... is it really that bad that it needs superheroes?_ I yawned again and sleep slowly overtook me as thoughts of Chat Noir and the move to Paris swirled around in my head.

I tried my best with translating these words because I'm not that fluent in these languages. If I mistranslated something, please tell me.

 _ **Translations:**_

 _French_

Nous Sommes Arrivés - We have arrived

Bien Sur - Of course

Risque Dans la Mariée - Risk in the Bride

Bonne Nuit - Good Night

J'ai Fait - I did

 _Italian_

Buona Notte - Good Night

Gatto Nero - Black Cat (Chat Noir)

Un Coccinella - A Ladybug

 _Japanese_

Ā kami - Oh god


	2. Chapter 2

"Roma~" I groaned and covered my face. "Roma, it's time to wake up."

" _No…_ " I groaned.

" _Yes._ " I felt my body suddenly become cold and I wrinkled my nose in discomfort. "Romano Calligaris, I swear to _Kami_ , if you don't get up-"

" _Fine_ , I'm up, I'm up." I forced myself up from the uncomfortable position that I was on the floor. "Ugh, why am I even down here." Memories of last night's event suddenly came to me. "Oh, yeah," I mumbled. I looked up at Hiroko and gave her a quizzical look when I saw what she was wearing. "What is it... and why?"

She looked down at her purple dinosaur onesie. "What? I'm a dinosaur." She raised her hands, pretending they were claws. "Roar. Fear me." I rolled my eyes at her actions. "Is there something wrong with me wearing them?"

"Um, yeah." I motioned towards myself. "Where's mine? I don't think this is fair."

She just laughed and patted my head. "Go shower and get dressed. You have an interview to do today." She said, walking out of my room.

I groaned in pain as I stood up from the floor. I stretched and sighed in relief when I felt my back crack. I sluggishly made my way to my closet to grab the set that I had planned to wear today. I walked out of my room to find the bathroom, which was at the beginning of the hallway, and I went inside to freshen up.

After I had finished taking a quick shower, I quickly got dressed in the clothes I had picked out, which was a black and white striped shirt with a pair of blue jeans. I got out of the bathroom and made my way back to my room to grab a black blazer and a pair of my white sneakers. I put on my sneakers and blazer before going to the living room. "Hiroko, I'm ready."

I heard a door open from the opposite hallway and Hiroko came out. "How do I look?" She asked as she did a small spin. She wore a light blue peplum top along with a pair of white shorts. Her black hair, which was usually just put up into a bun of some sort, was let down, letting her natural curls show. In her hand, she held a pair of light blue pumps.

"You look dazzling," I said

She smiled happily and started to put on the small heels. "You don't look too bad yourself." She grabbed her bag and took out her phone. "We're going to the TV station for your interview. It's not far from here, do you want to walk or have Avellino take us?"

"A walk sounds nice, plus I can get a head start on looking around," I said as I stood up.

"Already thinking positive. I love it." She grabbed a light jacket and the keys to the apartment. "Okay, let's go."

We both made our way out of the apartment and Hiroko locked the door.

We slowly walked our way through the streets of Paris, pointing out the different things and places that we could do and try during our stay here. Hiroko led us to a small bakery located at the corner of a street.

" _Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Pâtisserie_." I read aloud, taking in the appearance of the bakery before us.

Hiroko gently smacked my arm before grabbing the doorknob. "Stop misjudging the place." She said, making her way inside.

"I wasn't!" I said as I followed her inside and scanned the different baked goods that were set on the counters. My eyes immediately glued to the cornetti and chocolate chip cookies. "Hiroko, they have cornetti!" I ran over to the counter. I looked at it skeptically. "Wait… is it a cornetto?"

"Good Morning. May I help you?" I looked up to see a woman smiling at me.

I smiled at her. "Buon giorno." I pointed at the cornetti. "Can I have two… are they cornetti?" I mumbled that last part mainly to myself.

"Oh, are you Italian?" I nodded. "We have had other Italians come through here. No, it's not a cornetto. These are called croissants, which is more of a flaky puff pastry."

" _Oh_ , croissants... then can we have two croissants?"

"Can you make that three?" Hiroko asked from beside me. "You and I both know one won't fill you up." She said to me before grabbing the bag the three croissants were delicately placed in. "Question: Do you guys sell coffee?"

The woman smiled, her grey eyes twinkling alongside the bright smile. "Yes, we do. We have petit, moyen, and grand."

"I want a grand." I looked up at Hiroko. "Can I get a grand?"

Hiroko rolled her eyes. "Can we get one grand and one moyen."

The woman nodded. "Of course." She went over to a machine.

As we waited, I drifted off into my thoughts. _Gatto Nero and Coccinella... Why are they necessary? Is Paris a bad place to move to? Porca miseria, I should've stayed in Nice and stayed taking care of the brats my mom calls her "angels." ... No... I hate them... No, don't think about them, Romano! Think about something else... Gatto Nero and Coccinella... Gatto Nero... He was pretty cute... No, Roma! Don't think about that! You have a bone to pick with him! He stole your hot chocolate last night!_ I felt a growl form at the end of my throat from my growing annoyance.

"Roma," I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Hiroko. "What are you thinking about?"

"Stuff."

" _Roma_."

"It's nothing."

"It didn't look like nothing, you looked frustrated."

I sighed at her persistence. "Do you know anything about _Gatto_... Chat Noir or Ladybug?"

Hiroko looked up in thought. "I actually looked for any sort of interesting information about them. Apparently, there's a blog by a student, Alya Césaire, and it's called the "Ladyblog." Though... it's mainly about Ladybug, but she also has separate pages about Chat Noir and something about "Akumatized Victims.""

"Akumatized Victims?"

Hiroko shrugged. "You can ask her. She had called me about a few weeks before we moved here and asked if she was able to interview you."

"So she's the one interviewing me at the TV Station?"

"No. Yes. No, and yes. An actual reporter is going to interview you about the movie while Ms. Césaire is going to learn more about you."

"You lied."

"What?"

"You _lied_. You told me that I had _a_ small interview today."

Hiroko rolled her eyes. "Don't be a big baby over that. It had slipped my mind, okay. I believe it's for a school assignment and she had chosen you. I had set the appointment to be at one in the afternoon."

"Here you are," I looked back at the woman who had served us our coffee. "One grand and one moyen." She pointed behind us. "We have milk, crème, sugar, and other ingredients for your coffee on the table over there."

I grabbed my coffee and smiled, thanking her as Hiroko and I made our way to the small table the woman spoke of. I opened the lid of my coffee and added cream and sugar to my taste before stirring it. Hiroko only added a dash of milk and a tiny bit of sugar. Hiroko and I thanked the woman once again before leaving the small bakery.

Hiroko opened the bag and pulled out a croissant for both me and herself. I immediately started to eat the treat and I hummed contently at the soft, buttery pastry. We both continued our walk, eating our "breakfast" and sipping our coffee.

 _I wish I had brought my camera…_ I looked around at all the different things that made Paris what it was. The people, the buildings, even the plants that were planted neatly. I sighed. _Next time for sure._ I thought as I started to nibble on my second croissant.

After a bit of walking, a park came into view. It was bordered by a black fence, separating the park from the rest of Paris. It seemed simple, trees carefully planted around the park, benches evenly placed between the trees, and a fountain placed exactly in the middle of it all. As we got closer, I noticed a small trio of people near the fountain. I slowed down to a stop and watched them. They were all males. The first man, fairly tall and thin with dark reddish brown hair, was holding a camera as he spoke to the smallest of the bunch. The next was a tall and very buff man who seemed very intimidating. The last of the three looked to be around my age. He continued to nod at what the thin man was saying. _That boy kinda looks familiar…_

"Roma!"

Hiroko's call for me made all three of them look towards our direction. The other teen and I locked eyes making me narrow my own. _Really, really familiar…_ I huffed and moved to go back with Hiroko, who was waiting impatiently. "Yeah, yeah, I know." I looked back at the teen who still continued to watch me. _Merde… It's going to bother me all day now._

After what seemed like forever, we finally reached the TV Station. We made our way inside, going to the desk at the front. "Roma, go sit over there." Hiroko pointed at a brown leather couch and I begrudgingly made my way over to the seat. I slowly sipped at my coffee, watching Hiroko talk to the receptionist of the building.

I heard a gasp from beside me which made me look towards the source of the sound to see a girl that seemed to be in utter shock. "Y-You're Romano Calligaris… right?" I slowly nodded as I took another sip of my coffee. " _Mon Dieu_! I am a big fan of your works. I've seen your recent one, _La Vérité_ , and it was amazing! I had chills! I also watch your original ones which are in Italian, like _Un Bacio Su Una Rosa_ and _Occhi Nell'oscurità_." She sighed dreamily. "They were absolutely wonderful! My _favorite_ would have to be _Giugno_."

I almost choked on my drink at the mention of the film. "You… You liked _Giugno_?"

The girl's bright green eyes shimmered with excitement. " _Oui_ , _oui_! I loved how you were able to portray the character that _you_ created so smoothly. I personally think you should direct more films." Her face suddenly became a bright red. "I don't mean that you're bad at acting or anything! I just love your films and-"

I couldn't help myself but laugh. " _Grazie_ , _grazie_. I'm glad you like it so much. I actually didn't think that it came out as good as you make it appear to be."

"Are you crazy?! It was such a beautiful film! I was taken on such an emotional rollercoaster!"

I laughed again. "So, what's your name?"

The girl's posture straightened. "Emilia. Emilia Love."

I stood and held my hand out for her to shake. "It's nice to meet you, Signorina Love." Emilia's eyes widened considerably to the point where I was afraid that they would pop out of her head. I had to bite my lip to prevent myself from laughing.

" _Je... Quoi…_ " Her cheeks brightened and she shook my hand. "I-it's nice to meet you too." Her voice was as quiet as a mouse compared to her excited voice from earlier.

I smiled. _She's adorable._ "So… what do you do here?" I said as I sat back down in my seat.

"I'm a writer!" She said proudly. "I would always write no matter where I go and it became something that I loved to do dearly." She motioned to the seat beside me. " _Puis-je_?" I nodded and scooted over a bit so she is able to sit down. She sat down beside me, leaving enough space between us. "I was actually hired by the station to create a series." She started to rummage through the many papers in the satchel she wore. " _Où l'ai-je mis_?" She pulled out three different colored notebooks that were differently labeled. "Here it is!" She grabbed a thick black notebook that had sticky notes peeking out from almost every page. She flipped the notebook and pointed at the back of the cover. "This is the summary of _Cri de Guerre des Dragons._ The inside is the starting progress of each episode… Would you like to read it?"

I smiled at her and placed down my coffee. "Of course." I carefully took the journal from her hands and started to read.

 _Cri de Guerre des Dragons takes place during medieval times where humans hunted down dragons. We know how the humans felt, hence their angered attacks on the unusual reptiles. But what about the dragons? How did they feel when the puny humans started to attack their children? How did they react? We know that there are no dragons left in this world because the humans had slain them all. But what if that was all a lie? What if they are still among us? Cri de Guerre des Dragons shows us all how the dragons fought back - their strategies, strengths, and wits - and how a single dragon saved them all._

I looked at Emilia and was met with a look of sheer curiosity. I opened my mouth to speak but quickly closed it. _How do I describe it to her? I like her idea, but I can't read the work itself right now…_

She cleared her throat as a look of disappointment flashed through her eyes. "I-it's a work in progress."

I closed the notebook and handed the notebook back to her with a smile. "I can't judge the work if I haven't fully read it. I would read it now, but I have an interview in just a bit and I wouldn't want to get interrupted. I like the concept of it and I think it would be a magnificent show. Maybe it'll even grow into something more than that."

She held her notebook close to her chest with a distant look on her face. "It's alright… you don't have to lie to me to make me feel better. If it's bad, then just tell me…"

I furrowed my eyebrows. " _Cosa?_ What do you mean? I'm being honest with you. I can't judge a small piece of a work. I need to see the whole thing before-"

Emilia quickly stood up. "It was nice to meet you." She walked off, leaving me to myself.

I sigh, exasperated. _What did I do? I told her what I thought…_

"Roma." I looked up to see Hiroko standing in front of me. "You're pouting. What's wrong?"

I stood and grabbed my coffee. "Nothing. Are we heading to the interview?" I said before sipping my coffee.

She looked at me skeptically before nodding. "Follow me." She walked towards an elevator and I followed suit. We stepped inside and rode up to the fifth floor before stepping out. We walked slowly, presumably looking for the correct room for my interview. Hiroko suddenly stopped and gently knocked on the dark green door that had the golden numbers "513" hammered on it. There was a soft acknowledgment from the other side which made Hiroko open the door. We made our way inside the small room which was "decorated" with cameras and wires around the two seats that were set to face each other. There were currently four other people besides me and Hiroko.

A woman with remarkable fuschia hair stood from her seat. " _Bonjour_." We shook hands and I sat in the seat opposite from hers. "My name is Nadja Chamack. You must be Romano Calligaris, correct?"

"Yes. It is nice to meet you." I said as I took my seat trying to drink the rest of my coffee before the interview officially started.

A woman with short blonde hair that stood next to Mademoiselle Chamack whispered something in her ear. Mademoiselle Chamack nodded, which seemed to have satisfied the woman, seeing as she walked out after receiving her answer. I carefully watched the bright-haired woman before a hand came into my line of vision. I trailed my eyes up the arm to the owner's face, which happened to be Hiroko. I looked at her in confusion.

She sighed. "Give it to me, Roma."

I didn't have to look at what she was pointing at to know what she was talking about. "But I'm not done."

" _Roma_." I groaned and gave her the styrofoam cup that held my coffee. "Thank you." She ruffled my hair and gave me a mint that she always kept in her bag. I plopped it into my mouth and watched as Hiroko crouched down. I immediately recognized this as her "whispering position" so I leaned towards her slightly. "Remember, this interview is supposed to be about _Risque Dans la Mariée_ and only _Risque Dans la Mariée_. Don't let her get you off track, okay?" I nodded, which earned a bright smile from her. "I'll be waiting outside." You moved to leave.

"You aren't going to stay?"

Hiroko shook her head. "I trust you, Roma."

She left the room and I was left alone to awkwardly sit across from my interviewer. I looked out the clear wall that revealed a perfect view of the park and its surroundings. _Now I really wish that I had brought my camera._

" _Beau_ , isn't it?" I glanced at Mademoiselle Chamack and nodded before looking back at the view. "I've always enjoyed doing interviews in this room because of this. It gives us a nice natural lighting."

I nodded again to show that I was listening. I saw something in the distance and I squinted my eyes to try to get a better look. _Gatto Nero_ was flying through the air from, what it seemed like, being hit by a great force. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

"Are we ready?" I heard a different voice speak and I refocused on what was about to happen.

Mademoiselle Chamack smoothed out her shirt and nodded at the cameraman who, I'm guessing, asked the question. "Monsieur Calligaris?"

I took one last look out the window, only to see an explosion in the distance, before adjusting my seating. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Alright, cameras are rolling in 5, 4, 3…" The cameraman showed the last two numbers on his hand before signaling for Mademoiselle Chamack to start.

"Hello, this is Nadja Chamack and I am here with our new upcoming star, Romano Calligaris. Monsieur Calligaris, I'm so glad you are able to join us here in Paris. From what I understand, you had just recently moved here."

"Yes, I moved here from Nice, but before that, I lived in _Italia_ with my father and my sister."

"Ah, _Italie_. In _Italie,_ you had made a few films, even acted in a few. What made you join those productions?"

"I actually came from a poor family and I thought it was a great way to earn money for us. I ended up falling in love with the directing and the acting and I just kept on auditioning for movies. It also helps a lot when I am fluent in both French and Italian."

"Yes, especially for the upcoming production _Risque Dans la Mariée_. Tell us, Monsieur Calligaris, what is this film about and what exactly is your role?"

"Well," I cleared my throat before starting. " _Risque Dans la Mariée_ , which is translated to _The Risk in the Bride_ , takes place here in Paris, France and it is about two boys falling in love throughout their lives. It's supposed to show the struggles of people who feel attracted to others of the same gender. I was chosen to be one of the friends of both of the main characters, Noel, during their teenage years."

"Short and sweet. Do you perhaps know who the two main characters are going to be played by?"

I shook my head. "The director is actually holding auditions either this week or next week for the rest of the roles. He had only chosen a handful of people from _Italia_ to be in this production, but he wanted people who were much more fluent in French to partake in this, so…" I gestured around us. "Why not come to the heart of France?"

Mademoiselle Chamack went to ask about something else, but an intense vibration of the floor stopped her. She pressed her index finger on the ear talkie she wore. "A-ah, yes… Okay."

I looked around and saw that the rest of the crew was doing the same thing. I cleared my throat. "Um, is something wrong?" The room had gotten drastically darker and I looked at the window, only to see a dragon. Well, a girl with green scales adorning her features with big wings that seemed to be attached to her back. I felt my breath get caught in my throat and I froze up.

Her green irises wildly scanned the room and only stopped when they landed on me. She smiled widely, revealing sharp teeth. "Found you, _Menteur~!_ " She raised her clawed hands to the window and started to bang on it, which made small cracks in the window. The sound of the variety of gold jewelry she wore was agonizingly becoming louder with each hit. When the window didn't break, she swung her tail to be in front of her, which revealed a small book charm tied to the end of the emerald limb. She cupped it in her hands and it dramatically grew in size and she flipped it open and quickly scribbled something in it, before letting her tail fall back to its original spot, which made the book shrink back to its original size.

 _Okay, I think this is my cue to leave._

I quickly moved off of my seat and ran to the door. I opened it and went to escape, but I felt something wrap around my torso and pull me back into the room. My foot slipped, making me fall onto the floor and I yelped from the pain I felt from the sudden impact. I was suddenly pulled out from the building and into the arms of the reptilian girl. My eyes widened and I struggled in her grip, trying to escape from her grip.

She spread out her wings and we quickly went to a greater height with a quick beat of her wings. I held my breath and screwed my eyes shut so I could prevent myself from looking down. We finally stopped moving and I opened my eyes to see that we were on top of the Eiffel tower. Immediate thoughts went through my mind. _What have I gotten myself into, Dio mio... I'm going to die... Should_ _I either try to get away from the reptilian girl or try to live?_

The second thought was the one that pushed itself into my mind a lot more persistently, so my natural reaction to being held at a great height was to hold onto the girl for dear life. I clenched my jaw and forced myself to look into her bright green eyes. My eyes widened as I recognized the color. "Signorina Love?"

The look of hatred quickly left her face and she smiled sweetly. A small pink glow began to come together as if they were small fireflies before forming into a butterfly-shaped emblem around her face. Emilia gave me a close-eyed grin, giving me chills knowing how close I was to her unusually sharp teeth. "Don't worry, _Monsieur_ Calligaris. I won't hurt you." Hearing those words made me physically relax and that was an immediate mistake. She started to loosen her grip on my body, making me slip slightly and I quickly grabbed onto one of her legs and held onto her tightly. "Let go, _Menteur_." She said with a lace of venom in her voice.

"Listen to her." I looked up and saw a familiar black cat perched on top of a pole that stretched from the bottom of the tower. Emilia looked behind her and snarled at him. Flames engulfed her hand and she threw the ball of fire at the blonde. He dodged it by jumping from the pole, making it retract into his hand, and he landed on the safety fence. "Woah, woah, calm down, _Fille Lézard_."

I clenched my jaw and glared at _Gatto Nero._ "Are you insane?" I asked through my teeth.

"I'm a mixture of insane and handsome. Therefore, I'm insanely handsome." He stated with a wink. "Trust me, Romano."

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked down to see how far up I was. I sucked in a breath and cursed the black cat out under my breath as I slowly loosened my grip on Emilia's leg. She started to shake her leg and I completely lost my grip and I started to fall. I closed my eyes tightly and tried to keep my trust in Gatto Nero as high as I could. I felt a thin wire wrap around my torso multiple times and I was suddenly jerked to a stop. "Oh grazie a Dio." I opened my eyes and I saw that I was being slowly lowered to the ground by what seemed like to be a ladybug themed yo-yo. Once my feet had touched the ground, the wire around my body loosened and I almost collapsed on the ground, but an arm stopped me.

I looked at my savior and saw a girl in a ladybug-themed bodysuit. "Are you alright? Chat Noir said he would handle getting you down, but I didn't expect him to let you fall."

I gave an exasperated sigh and I placed my hand on her shoulder, looking straight into her bluebell eyes. "I'm going to kill that _Gatto_."

She only laughed. "He said that you would say something like that if you were okay." A ball of flames landed beside us and her smile ended as quickly as it came. She looked up and I couldn't help myself but look up along with her and see Gatto Nero fighting Signorina Love with his pole. "Let's get you to safety quickly so I can get back to Chat Noir." She quickly picked me up with ease and held me in a bridal carry before running in a full-blown sprint. I looked at her in shock after a few seconds of being surprised by the quick action. Knowing how much I weighed, she must be really strong. _Note to self: Do not mess with the Coccinella._ As she was running, I heard her mumble things about jewelry and an… akuma? Whatever that is. She ran into a nearby building and placed me down. She grabbed my arm and started to lead me towards a custodian closet.

"Ladybug?" We both turned around and saw a girl. "Is there another attack?"

"Alya!" She shoved me inside the closet and I almost stumbled into a pile of cleaning supplies. I wrinkled my nose in disgust at the strong smells of the many different liquids.

The closet suddenly closed and I turned around. "Oh no. She's not leaving me in here." I grabbed the doorknob at started to wiggle it to open it, but she must have blocked the door with something because it refused to budge.

There was a sudden bright light and I stumbled back from the sudden appearance of the girl that was just talking to _Coccinella_. "You know, that's exactly what I was thinking."

I pressed my hand against my chest to try to calm my rapidly beating heart. "Mi hai spaventato a morte."

"Oh... um..."

Before she could start a new sentence, I interrupted her. "Who are you? Are you a helper of _Coccinella_? Uh, well, Ladybug, as you know her as."

She shook her head. "No, no," She smiled widely and a dreamy look shone in her eyes as she looked off to the side. "But that would be amazing if I was Ladybug's helper." The look in her eyes disappeared and she looked at me. "My name is Alya Césaire." She shifted on her feet before leaning back against the steel shelf of the closet.

"Césaire? Ah, you're the one who requested an interview with me?"

She grinned and nodded. "Yup! I was thinking of asking if you wanted to do it now, but," She motioned at the cleaning supplies around us. "seeing how we're stuck in a closet, I didn't think it would be appropriate."

I chuckled at her response. "Yeah," I felt a tingle in my nose and I looked away from her and sneezed into my elbow. I groaned and covered my mouth and nose with my hand.

" _À vos souhaits_."

"Grazie."

" _So_ … do you know what happened? Oh, if you don't mind, can I record this conversation, at least?" She asked and I shook my head. She gave her phone a few taps before looking at me and continuing with her question. "Do you know what happened with that akumatized girl?"

"What does that mean? "Akumatize?" It sounds like a really bad fashion brand."

She laughed slightly. "No, it's not that. It all starts with an Akuma, which is basically an evil butterfly that contains the evil energy of the target's negative emotions, like anger or fear. The Akuma possesses an important item of the target and it makes that person under _Le Papillon's_ influence."

" _Le Papillon_?"

"He is the villain that creates the Akumas to akumatize people. He akumatizes them to capture Ladybug's and Chat Noir's miraculouses. The only way to get rid of the Akuma is to destroy the item that it possessed, but Ladybug is the one who is meant to destroy them so she could remove the dark energy that it absorbed."

"So…" I furrowed my eyebrows in thought. "Say, that if an Akuma possesses your phone, you would become… akumatized?"

"Yes."

"Can the Akuma akumatize a person's body?"

She looked to the side in thought. "That's a good question, but I don't think that they can because you would have to destroy the item and if it possessed an actual person, I don't think that would end well.

"Right." My thoughts drifted to Signorina Love. "So… she was akumatized. Hmm, I see." I began to think back to _Coccinella_ and my eyes widened. "I know where the Akuma is!"

"Huh? You do?"

I nodded and tried the door once more, but again, it barely budged. " _Coccinella_ was talking about the jewelry that Signorina Love was wearing." I moved back about a leg length away from the door and planted my left foot on the ground. "When I met her, she wasn't wearing any of those things." I raised my foot and kicked right above the doorknob as hard as I could, which made a loud crack. " _Coccinella_ thinks that the Akuma is in one of the jewels, but she's wrong." I adjusted my footing and kicked the same spot again. There was another crack, but it wasn't as loud as the first one. I pushed the door and it moved slightly. I gave it another hard push and it burst open. "It's her book!" I grabbed Alya's hand and started to run out of the closet and then the building. I felt a very strong breeze and I had to cover my face and close my eyes to protect it from the sharp blow. Once the strength of the wind lessened, I uncovered my face and looked at the source, which happened to be Signorina Love, followed by _Gatto Nero_ and _Coccinella_. " _Andiamo_!" I told Alya before running after the trio.

"Ah, wait!" Instead of stopping, I looked behind me to see her tapping her phone screen and moving her phone to have a landscape view, before starting to run after me. "Coming to you live, Ladyblog viewers, I am with Romano Calligaris," She pointed the camera to me and I gave a confused smile. _Why is she doing this now?_ "He is an upcoming short film actor and director and he and I are following Chat Noir and Ladybug to…" She paused looked at me, looking for an answer as to where we were going.

"Back to the TV Station!" I pointed to the direction of the building where there was a sudden explosion.

"Yes, the TV Station!" We continued running until we reached the building, but we slowed to a stop when we saw that it was surrounded by the police. "How will we get through?" She asked, out of breath.

"I have a plan." I grabbed Alya's hand and walked towards the doors of the building, but, like I expected to happen, a police officer stopped us.

"I'm sorry, but this building is off limits. There is an Akuma situation, but don't worry, Ladybug and Chat Noir will take care of it."

I feigned worry and confusion. "But my little brother is in there! Surely you wouldn't let a little kid get injured under these circumstances, right? I need to get in there, it's really important."

"I'm sorry, but no one is allowed in the building, no matter what. I'm sure your brother will be fine."

I pretended to be saddened by the news. "Oh, I see." I looked over his shoulder, passed him. " _Dio mio_ , someone is breaking the law!" I pointed towards the direction of the huge crowd that was behind him.

"What?! Who?!"

"I don't know, he ran away once I pointed him out. He had a green hat and a black and grey hoodie. You aren't just going to let him get away with that, are you?"

"Of course not!"

He ran towards the crowd and pushed his way through and without a second beat, I ran past the doors and into the building with Alya. "Nice thinking."

"Thanks. Let's just hope he doesn't find someone that fits my description." I looked at the door that led to the stairs and the doors of the elevators. "Okay, Alya, you might hate me, but we're going to have to run up the stairs."

"But don't we have to go we have to up to the roof?"

"Yes, but we can't get risk getting stuck in the elevator considering that they're causing explosions up there." Right when I had finished my sentence, the building quivered, which made the lights flicker.

"I see your point. Alright, let's go."

We both ran to the stairs and started our tiring journey up the building. When we made it to the top, I didn't immediately go through the door. As I gasped for air, I peeked out the door to see what was going on. _Gatto Nero_ was currently dodging the balls of flames that were being thrown at him while _Coccinella_ seemed to look panicked as she spun her yo-yo around at a rapid speed.

"Ladybug, go before you transform back!" _Gatto Nero_ said. "I'll keep her busy."

 _Coccinella_ furrowed her eyebrows as she watched Signorina Love. "Where could the Akuma be? We've destroyed some of her bracelets and even her necklaces, but they keep on regenerating back."

I turned to look back at Alya. "They're bound to notice us," I told her.

She pursed her lips together. "I'm not sure if this will work, but I can try to distract them." She moved to look outside.

I looked back out the door and pointed towards a pipe, big enough to cover both of us. "If we run over there, you can distract them easier."

"Right. Let's go on my count." I moved slightly back to let her see them easier. " _Trois_ , _deux_ , _un_ , _aller_!" She ran towards the pipe and I followed close behind. We both made sure that we were covered before peeking out to see where they were. "You ready?" She whispered to me. I nodded and she ran in the middle of where the three unusually powered people were. " _Reine des Dragons_ , I am-"

Right when she started to speak and all their attentions were on her, I quickly ran to Signorina Love's tail and carefully removed the charm, so she wouldn't notice. When I successfully removed it, the book immediately grew in size and it took almost all of my strength to not curse in surprise. I ran back to our hiding spot and I sat down to open the book. Each page was filled with quickly written narratives about Signorina Love. " _After being hurt and betrayed, Emilia chose to become le Reine des Dragons." "The Queen wishes to have an endless amount of gold and jewels." "As le Reine des Dragons, Emilia has gained the power of flight and fire." "Le Reine des Dragons has gained immense strength."_ They all kept on going and going. Each page was another description that added to Signorina Love, but not once has she written something about someone else. Can she not control someone else with her words? Surely, if she could, she would have captured _Coccinella_ and _Gatto Nero_ already. _What would happen if I tore out a page?_ As the thought formed in my head, I tore out the page that gave Signorina Love her power of flight and fire and watched her as she lunged towards _Coccinella_ with her body engulfed in flame. Right when the last little bit tore off, the flame that was once surrounding her body had diminished and she fell to the ground with a loud yelp. I felt my jaw drop at the sight and I turned back to the book. I put my foot on the left side of the book and grabbed the right half with both of my hands and started to pull to try to rip it in half.

"Did you break it yet?"

I jumped at the sudden voice and looked up to see Alya. "Not yet," I said as I continued to try to tear the book in half. She ran to my side and grabbed the right side and started to help me pull. " _Dai, dai_!" The satisfying sound of the notebook slowly ripping in half was heard before it finally broke, making me and Alya fall back. _Una farfalla_ that was black and purple came out from between the pages and started to flutter away. I quickly captured it in my hands and I felt it's feet and wings gently tickling the palms of my hands and I looked at Alya, wide-eyed. "What do I do, what do I do? Alya, _Cosa faccio_ , _que fais-je_?"

Alya picked up the book from the ground and grabbed my shoulder, pulling me towards the center of the roof where _Coccinella_ and _Gatto Nero_ stood, confused. "Romano caught the Akuma!"

"Romano?" _Coccinella_ looked at me and gave a look of disbelief. "You too? You're going to be in serious danger if you-" A beeping sound was heard, interrupting her and she pressed her fingers to one of the earrings that she wore. "We'll talk about this later. Where's the Akuma?"

"In my hands," I stated.

"In your hands!?"

I slowly nodded. "That's what I just said. Should I let it go? It's starting to tickle."

She rapidly nodded and slid her finger across her yo-yo, making it open. I opened my hands and the _farfella_ flew from my hands. "No more evil doing for you, little Akuma." _Coccinella_ swung her yo-yo and captured the _farfella_ inside of it. The yo-yo opened and the _farfella_ flew out, but instead of being the dark purple and black color that it was before, it was now a pure white. "Bye, bye, little butterfly." She picked up a jug that was decorated red with black spots and threw it in the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!" The jug was suddenly not a jug anymore, but a swarm of ladybugs instead. I watched in complete awe as the ladybugs flew in different directions. A small swarm surrounded the broken book before dispersing and revealing the now fixed book. "Gotta bug out. See you later, kitty."

I took the book from Alya's hands. "Whoa! That is so cool!"

"Yup, that's the power of the ladybug," Alya said as she turned off her camera.

 _The power of the coccinella, huh?_ From the corner of my eye, I saw Emilia's body be covered by a dark matter before revealing her as her normal self once more. I held Emilia's notebook close and ran over to her. "Emilia!"

She placed her hand against her head as she looked around. "Huh? Where am I?"

I crouched down beside her and placed my hand on her shoulder. " _Est-ce que tu vas bien_?" Her eyes widened slightly as she gave a slight nod. I handed her her notebook and I smiled at the bright look on her face as she clutched it to her chest. I thought back to what Alya had told me when we were left alone. "Emilia, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings at all. I really meant what I had said to you, I didn't mean to have it taken in a negative way. Are you willing to forgive me?"

She blinked a few times before a huge smile blossomed on her face. " _Bien sûr_!" She jumped on me and wrapped her arms around me. "It's my fault for jumping to conclusions. I'm really, really sorry."

I smiled and patted her head. "How about this? I can find some free space on my calendar and we can meet up together so I can read _Cri de Guerre des Dragons_ with no interruptions. Just us, some snacks, and your notebook."

Her eyes brightened and her smile widened. " _Vraiment_?! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"I'm sorry to interrupt your moment," I looked up at _Gatto Nero_ as he started to speak. "but I have to bring you both back before any of your managers freak out any more than they originally did."

Emelia gasped and quickly stood up with her notebook in hand. "I completely forgot about Narcisse!" She said before running off, back into the building.

I pushed myself up and cleaned off my jeans. "There's no need for that, _Gatto Nero_. I'm already where I need to be."

"Yeah, so am I," Alya said as she walked up to stand beside me.

"Alright, well, I better scat."

He turned to run, but I had remembered something that had bothered me ever since I had met him yesterday. "Wait!" I ran after him and pulled his belt that had acted as a cat's tail.

"Woah, woah, woah! I didn't know that you couldn't keep your paws off of me, Romano."

I rolled my eyes. "That is not why I stopped you." I dropped his tail on the ground and crossed my arms. "You stole my hot chocolate last night."

He gave me a blank stare before breaking out in a wide grin. "Is that why you have such a c _at-titude_? Don't worry, a drop wasn't wasted," He said as he patted his stomach. I scoffed and rolled my eyes again, frowning. "Aw, don't be like that, Romano."

I huffed and it took almost all of my strength not to smirk at what I had thought of. "You know, I had started to look up to you. I actually thought you looked cool when you had helped me."

"What?! _Fur_ real?"

"Yeah, but you clearly don't like or respect your fans if you steal things from them. I'll probably switch over to being _Coccinella's_ fan instead."

He gasped and placed his hand on his chest. "No! I would never do such a thing like that." _Yeah, right. You literally just did that to me yesterday…_ "I'll make it up to you."

"Promise?"

"It's a _purr-omise_. Cat's honor."

I released the smile that I was holding in. "Great. I won't let you _fur-get_ it."

He smiled and patted my head. "Of course you won't." I felt his hand move to the back of my head and he added a light pressure to his hand, which told me that he was trying to keep me in place. He started to lean closer and he gently pressed his forehead to mine. I felt my eyes widen and I tried to take a step back, but his hand kept me in place. "I'll see you later, Romano." He let go and proceeded his run, jumping off the building.

I placed my hand on my forehead and looked at Alya. "What was _that_?"

She shrugged. "No clue."

"Anyways, let's get back down into the station." I started to walk to the roof door and I opened it for Alya, letting her walk through first. "Oh, Alya, because of what had just happened with Emilia, I would have to push back our appointment for a later time," I said as we started to make our way down the stairs to the door to the top floor.

"Oh, you don't have to do that. I have all the information I need."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Are you sure?" I ask and she nodded. "Okay, well, good luck on your assignment. I'm sure you'll do great." I told her as we made it to the elevator and we walked inside. I pressed the button for the first floor and we waited as the elevator started to move.

Alya chuckled to herself. "I bet you only said that because the presentation is about you."

I pressed my finger against my lips and hushed her. "That's a secret, don't tell anyone that."

She laughed. "Don't worry, I don't plan on it."

We both smiled at each other before leaving the elevator in a comfortable silence as we continued to wait. Once the elevator door opened, we both stepped out.

"I'll see you around," Alya said as she started to make her way out of the building. "Oh, and I'll let you know how my presentation went."

" _Eccezionale_ ," I said as I waved at her. "Stay safe!"

She waved back. "You too!" She walked out and I went to go sit on a couch and wait.

"Roma!" I perked up when I heard my nickname and I immediately stood up when I saw Hiroko. She ran to me and pulled me into a tight hug. She started to speak quickly in Japanese as she pulled back and started to inspect my face, probably looking for an injury.

"Hiroko, I can't understand you," I said as I tried to push her hands away from my face.

"You had me worried sick, Romano! Are you alright?"

I nodded. "I'm fine." I noticed that her eyes started to water slightly. "Hiroko, I promise that I'm fine." I grabbed her hand and placed it on my head. "See? I'm here and I'm not hurt. Aren't you happy?"

A small smile formed on her lips and she pulled me in for another hug. " _Hai_ , _Hai_. I'm glad you're okay, Romano."

"I'm sorry to interrupt you two," Hiroko pulled away and we both turned to look at Mademoiselle Chamack. "I'm sure that was quite an experience, Monsieur Calligaris."

I nodded. "Yes, it was very shocking, to say the least."

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that you don't have to finish the interview. I'm sure you're probably frazzled from what happened. Instead, you can reschedule or we can do an article instead."

 _In all honesty, I wasn't really tired. I mean, my legs hurt from all that running, but other than that, I was fine._ I looked up at Hiroko before looking back at Mademoiselle Chamack. "I think an article would be great. I can give you my card if you'd like. It has all the ways you're able to contact me."

"Yes, that would be great." Hiroko opened her bag and pulled out one of my cards that she was so persistent on getting for me and she handed it to Mademoiselle Chamack. "Thank you. I'll contact you as soon as I can. Have a good day." She said before walking away.

Hiroko placed her hand on my shoulder and I turned to look at her. "All you have to do is meet with Alya Césaire and then you're done."

"Oh, I had already met up with her. I asked if she had wanted to move our appointment to a later time, but she refused. She told me that she had gotten all the information that she needed."

Hiroko smiled. "That means that we can have some fun and explore Paris. How does that sound?"

I smiled. "That sounds like fun." We both started to head towards the exit of the building. "I have so many things to tell you about."

"Really? Like what?"

"First, I would like another point in your little " _game_ " from helping _Coccinella_ and _Gatto Nero_."

"You did what?"

"Give me a point. That counts as a positive thing from moving here; helping superheroes."

Hiroko rolled her eyes. "Fine, that's two points now. Now tell me what happened."

I smiled in excitement as I started my story. "Well, it all started when I met this girl. Her name is Emilia Love. - " I continued to tell her what had happened as we toured the heart of France, stopping at a few places to either buy food or souvenirs. Hiroko had hung onto every word I said and added some of her own two cents while I told her what had happened.

That night, I lied in my bed with a small smile and looked up at the moon with one thought in my head.

 _Maybe living in Paris isn't that bad._

 _French_

Petit, Moyen, and Grand - Small, Medium, and Large

Merde - Crap

Mon Dieu - Oh my God

La Vérité - The Truth

Oui - Yes

Je... Quoi - I... What

Puis-je? - May I?

Où l'ai-je mis? - Where did I put it?

Cri de Guerre des Dragons - War Cry of the Dragons

Bonjour - Good Morning

Beau - Beautiful

Menteur - Liar

Fille Lézard - Lizard Girl

À vos souhaits - To your wishes; (It's like saying 'bless you') For someone who is older, superior in any way, or if you don't know them very well

Le Papillon - The Butterfly (Hawk Moth)

Trois, Deux, Un, Aller! - Three, Two, One, Go!

Reine des Dragons - Queen of Dragons

Que Fais-Je? - What do I do?

Est-ce que tu vas bien? - Are you alright?

Vraiment?! - Really?!

 _Italian_

Buon Giorno - Good Morning

Porca Miseria - Damn (or literally: Pig Misery)

Un Bacio Su Una Rosa - A Kiss Upon a Rose

Occhi Nell'oscurità - Eyes in the Darkness

Giugno - June

Cosa? - What?

Dio Mio - Oh my God

Oh grazie a Dio - Oh, thank God

Mi hai spavento a morte - Youscared me half to death

Andiamo! - Let's go!

Dai - Come on

Una Farfella - A butterfly

Cosa Faccio? - What do I do?

Eccezionale - Awesome

 _Japanese_

Hai - Yes


	3. Chapter 3

I opened my eyes, waking up to a harsh beeping sound. I groaned as I remembered how Hiroko insisted on having my own alarm clock so I could get used to not having her wake me up in the morning. I stretched and forced myself up from my bed to turn off the annoying alarm. I opened my closet door and pulled out my outfit for school, which was a white button-up shirt with a dark green jacket and jeans.

I started to hum to myself as I turned on the shower and I felt myself smile at the memory that formed in my mind. My sister and I would sing all the time to try to cheer my mother up when we first moved to France to live with her. Well, we would only speak French around her, considering how she wanted us to stop speaking our native language, Italian, because it reminded her of our father. We would sometimes put on a small "concert" for her in the living room. Sometimes we wouldn't even sing, we would basically scream the lyrics at each other just for fun. I laughed at the memory and began to gently sing in the shower to pass the time as I washed myself.

After I had freshened up and "performed" in the shower, I had gotten dressed in the clothes I had chosen for my first day of school. I quickly fixed my hair and brushed my teeth before leaving the bathroom to go to my room to get a pair of dark brown boots. I sat on my bed and started to pull on my boots. As I was tying the lace on the first one, my eye was caught by something on one of my bedside tables. I leaned across my bed and grabbed it - "it" being a folded piece of paper. I unwrapped it and immediately rolled my eyes when I saw who it was signed by.

 _Cher mon Italien préféré,_

 _I had came by tonight, but mew were asleep. I didn't want to wake mew from your catnap. Purr-haps we can meet once more tomorrow. I hope you haven't switched to being Ladybug's fan yet! (ΦзΦ) Also, Romano, you should make sure that you lock the door to your balcony. It was unlocked and that is very dangerous. You need to be more cautious! I don't want anything to happen to my favorite fan! Any-meow, I'll see you_ _tonight_ _,_ _tomorrow_ _, whenever I can._

 _Cordialement,_

 _Chat Noir_

I smiled at the ridiculous note and set it down on my bed to finish putting on my boots. I got up and checked my balcony door and, sure enough, it was unlocked. I locked it and smiled at the new idea that popped into my head. I went over to my school satchel that Hiroko gave to me and pulled out one of my binders, placing it on my bed. I chose a divider that settled itself in the back and pulled out a marker from my bag to label it " _Who is Chat Noir?_ " I got up from my bed and left my room to look for Hiroko. I ended up finding her in the kitchen, busy with something next to the stove. I walked to the entrance of the kitchen and tapped on the counter. "Hiroko."

She looked up from what she was doing. "Oh, Romano, good morning. I didn't expect you to be done that fast. Do you think you can wait for a few minutes for breakfast?"

"Yeah, but that's not why I came here." I leaned forward to look at what was inside the oven, seeing how the stove didn't have anything on it. "It does smell good though." I moved back when Hiroko tried to shoo me away. "I'm going, I'm going. I need a sheet protector, though. Where are they?"

"They should be in my desk. Check on the left side, middle drawer."

"Alright, thanks," I said as I made my way to her room. I opened her door and I felt my eyes widen at the mess of papers and files everywhere. " _Che cavolo_." I carefully stepped around the mess of papers on the ground and made my way to Hiroko's desk. I knelt beside the drawers and opened the middle drawer. I picked up a few sheet protectors and went to close the drawer, but something stopped me. I squinted my eyes and leaned closer to the drawer. There was a small hole at the bottom, but it was black. It wasn't the white like the carpet that Hiroko had in her room. I moved to look under the drawer and just as I had thought, there was no hole. " _È strano_..."

"Roma, the food's ready!"

I jumped when I heard her voice and quickly closed the drawer. "I'm coming!" I stood up and exited her room, making sure I closed her door. I made my way to the living room and placed down the sheet protectors that I had grabbed on the coffee table before sitting down at the dining table where breakfast was served. Hiroko set two mugs down in front of our plates before taking her seat across from me and I scrunched up my nose at the odd smell of tea and coffee mixed together. I looked down at my plate and furrowed my eyebrows. "What is it?"

"You don't know what it is? Didn't your mother ever cook this for you?"

I shook my head at both questions and took a bite of the toast, the only piece I recognized in the dish. "It tastes good, though."

She sighed. "It's called _Oeufs Au Plat Bressanone_. Did she _ever_ cook anything for you?"

I shook my head once more. "She would always be out with her boyfriend, so Astride and I would have to cook ourselves for all of us. I didn't complain though. I'd rather learn how to cook at a younger age than now."

She frowned and shook her head. "Your mother is _so_ insufferable."

I immediately regretted what I had said. I took a sip of my coffee and decided to change the subject before I let this conversation get into both of our heads and possibly ruining our days. "So, today's the first day for me. What will you do without me linked to your hip? I hope it isn't just worrying about me all day."

She gave a light breathy laugh. "No, I just have some paperwork to do, nothing too big, but I know that won't stop me from worrying that you might get into trouble on your first day."

I feigned offense on my face and I placed my hand on my chest, gasping lightly. "What do you ever so mean? I don't get into trouble."

"Romano, you and your big mouth were raised by an Italian. A very expressive one at that. That's what gets you into trouble. Plus, you have quite a temper, Roma. You get it from your mother."

"What? I don't have a temper."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." I pouted at her comment and she laughed. "I do hope that going to school now isn't too much for you. You and Astride were homeschooled when you stayed with your mother, right?"

I nodded. "She wanted us to watch our younger siblings while she was away. Taking us out of school was the best for her."

"I'm guessing Astride was the one who taught you." I nodded again, not wanting my voice to give away that I hated where this conversation was going. I clenched my jaw and decided to eat the rest of my breakfast in silence.

Once I finished, I stood up and grabbed my plate and utensils to put them in the sink. I then grabbed my coffee and sheet protectors. "I'm going to do something really quick. Call me if you need me," I told Hiroko as I quickly dashed to my room before she could respond. I placed my coffee down on my newly built desk and picked up the note from _Gatto Nero_. I carefully slid the note into one of the sheet protectors for safekeeping and placed it in my binder. I grabbed my coffee and started to sip at it as I stared down at the note. _Who could this little gattino be?_ I leaned forward to look closer at the note and gently traced the writing. _He surprisingly has very good penmanship. I would've never expected that._

"Roma! Avellino is here to take you to school!" I heard Hiroko call from the living room.

"Coming!" I quickly gulped down the last bit of my coffee and closed the binder. I picked up my things and shoved them back into my school satchel before slinging it over my head and onto my shoulder. I grabbed the coffee mug and left my room and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth once more and check if I needed to fix my appearance. Once I finished, I left the bathroom and went to the kitchen where Hiroko was cleaning the dishes.

She saw me and smiled. She turned off the water and wiped her hands dry before pulling me in for a tight hug. "I hope you have a great day, Roma."

I patted her arm lightly and she pulled away. "Thanks. I'll try my best."

"Remember to meet with the principal when you get there. He's supposed to give you your schedule and I believe he has some good news for you too. Oh, and remember to come back home so you can eat your lunch. Skipping meals is very bad for you and you need-"

"Okay, okay, Hiroko. I got it."

She pulled out a key from her pocket and placed it in my hand. "This is your house key."

"Okay, thanks," I said as I placed it in my satchel before heading to the door. "I'll see you later," I told her as I left our apartment.

I made my way through the hall and went down the stairs that led to the street. I scanned the street to look for the familiar silver of Avellino's car. Once I found it, I made my way towards it and gently drummed my fingers against the window before opening the back passenger door. I made myself comfortable in my seat before closing the door and clicking my seatbelt in place. " _Bonjour_ , Avellino."

" _Bonjour,_ Romano." He greeted me as he started to move out of the parking spot he was in.

The ride was silent as I liked it. I watched the many buildings pass by and I felt my stomach starting to get in knots, knowing that I was getting closer to my new school.

The car soon slowed down to a stop in front of the school. " _Je vous remercie_ ," I mumbled to Avellino, now begrudged to enter the school.

"Have a wonderful day, Romano."

"I'll try," I told him as I opened the door and stepped out. I closed the door and stared at the school. I took a deep breath before making my way towards the doors. I walked passed a few students and glanced at them making conversation. I smiled to myself, thinking about how I'll soon have my own friends to talk to, just like I used to. I stepped passed the doors and looked around to see if I could easily find the Principal's office. After my quick look around, I noticed that none of the rooms were labeled. I looked around the common area and decided to walk towards a group of other students. Once I reached them, I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I tried to remember a French greeting, anything, but I just couldn't. _Am I really that nervous?_ I took a step back and decided to try walking around the school myself to find where I needed to go.

A girl noticed me and waved. " _Bonjour, avez-vous besoin de quelque chose?_ "

I stared at her blankly and awkwardly smiled. "C-can you repeat that?"

She giggled. "Do you need help with something?"

"Oh! Ah, yes. I just transferred here and I was told to go to the Principal's Office."

"I can show you where it is." She looked back at her friends. "I'll catch up with you guys later." She shrugged on a light cheetah-patterned jacket and moved to grab my arm, gently tugging me towards the direction of the stairs. "I'm Lisette, by the way."

I smiled and nodded. "Romano."

"So, what brings you here to Paris?"

"I'm here to shoot a movie."

"A movie? Wow, that's so cool! I don't do anything cool like that. I only got in because of my grades and my parents helped with money."

"Oh, really?"

She hummed a confirmation. "Oh, here we are." She extended her arm in front of a door. "See you later, Romano," she told me with a wave. "It was nice meeting you."

"Thanks, it was nice meeting you too." I waved back at her.

Once she was out of sight, I knocked on the office door and there was a gruff voice that told me to "come in." I opened the door and entered the office. A man, who slightly resembled an owl, sat tall behind a desk. "Ah, you must be Romano Calligaris. Please, take a seat. I am Monsieur Damocles and I will be your principal." He told me as he gestured towards the chairs in front of his desk.

I did as I was told and sat down across from him. "I was told that you wanted to speak with me."

"Yes, oh, before I forget," He leaned over and opened a drawer before pulling out a file. He pulled out a slip of paper and holding it out towards me. "Here is your schedule and your school pad."

I grabbed my schedule and the tablet from his hands and skimmed over them. "Thank you."

"As for the next reason why I had asked you to come here." He pulled out another paper from the file and placed it on his desk. I leaned forward to look at it and saw it was a poster sketch. "I had one of our students sketch out a poster for our annual play. This year, our _Professeur de théâtre_ decided on doing _Blanche Neige et Les Sept Nains_."

"That sounds fun," I told him, not exactly sure where he was getting at.

"I understand that you are aspiring to become a director, so I had spoken to the _Professeur de théâtre_ and we both agreed that you can direct the play."

I blinked slowly, trying to take in what he just said. "I… get to direct the annual play?"

"Yes. If you think you're up for it. You will do everything from choosing the cast to deciding how the scenes are ran."

"Wow! Of course! I would love to!"

"Excellent." He picked up the sketch and placed it back into the file before handing it to me. "Now, if you're ready, I'll be happy to bring you to your new homeroom class."

I placed my new belongings into my satchel before snapping it closed. "Alright, I'm ready." He stood up and I followed suit.

"Follow me." He walked out of his office and I followed him as he led me to my class. He pointed out the different classrooms are and explained that the _théâtre_ was a few blocks away and it was where I would take up my time for the class. "Ah, here we are." He opened the door and held it open for me to enter. "Mademoiselle Bustier, this is Romano Calligaris. He will be transferring into your class, effective immediately. Make sure he feels welcome," He told the teacher before leaving the classroom.

A young woman stood from behind her desk and walked up to me. "Hello, Romano. I'm very excited to have you join us," she told me with a kind smile.

I returned her smile. "I'm excited to be here." I glanced over at the seats and saw a few students already in their seats. "Is there anything I need to know or catch up on?"

"Oh, yes." She moved to sit back in her seat. She typed something up on her computer before turning the screen to where I could see it. "My students are currently doing presentations on young people who are a big inspiration to others. Unfortunately, we are presenting them today, but I can give you some free time to complete some of it during my class." The class door opens and she glanced over before smiling at the person. "Hello, Nathaniel. Are you ready to present today?"

I turned to see who she was speaking to and saw a red-headed boy who looked shocked to be suddenly noticed by the teacher. "Uh, yeah."

"That's good. Oh, and remember, as much as I know you enjoy working on your art, I would like you to pay attention to your friends while they are presenting, okay?"

He nodded, now slowly turning red. Probably embarrassed to be called out. "Okay, Mademoiselle Bustier." He moved to go up the steps to his seat.

Mademoiselle Bustier turned back to me. "That reminds me. You need a seat. Why don't you sit beside Nathaniel in the back? Is that alright with you, Nathaniel?" He shrugged in response. "Alright, here is your rubric. You can start doing your research." She handed me a paper. "I hope you enjoy your time here with us."

"Thank you. I hope I do too." I turned and looked at Nathaniel who had his nose in a sketchbook. I made my way up the steps up to the desk that we were now going to share. I cleared my throat to get his attention. "Um, hey. Where should I sit?" He glanced at me before scooting away from me to make space for me. "Thanks." I took off my bag and set it down on my side of the desk. I sat myself down and looked down at the rubric that Mademoiselle Bustier gave me. I pulled out my tablet and turned it on to learn how it worked before starting to do some research. I took notes as I looked through young inspirations and only glancing up whenever I heard the classroom door opened.

A bell rang and I heard Mademoiselle Bustier clear her throat to gain our attention. I looked up and saw her make her way to stand directly in front of the class. " _Bonjour_ , class. It's wonderful to see you all here today. Before we begin our roll call, I have some good news for you all. We have a new student joining us. Romano, why don't you come up and introduce yourself? And maybe you can even tell us something about yourself."

I pursed my lips together and stood up. I walked down towards the front of the classroom to stand beside Mademoiselle Bustier. I gave a short wave to the class. "Hello, I'm Romano Calligaris and I was accepted into _Collège Françoise Dupont_ because I earned a performing arts scholarship. I am an aspiring director and actor and…" I looked off to the side in thought but stopped when I saw a certain person. She smiled at me and I lifted my hand to point at her. "You? You're in here?"

"I actually prefer 'Alya,' but I can roll with 'you' if you want."

"Is there a problem Romano?" Mademoiselle Bustier asked.

I looked at her wide-eyed, immediately thinking that I had already gotten myself in trouble. "No, not at all." I looked back at Alya who only stuck her tongue out teasingly at me. "I uh… I was also raised in Italy before coming to France to live with my mom, so I can communicate fluently in both languages." I paused and looked back at Mademoiselle Bustier. " _J'ai fini_."

She nodded. "Does anyone have any questions for Romano?" There was a brief pause of silence before a boy in the front slowly raised his hand. I looked at him and immediately recognized him as the boy that I saw in the park yesterday. "Yes, Adrien?"

He lowered his hand and gave me a small smile. "I actually have two questions. I understand if we don't have time to listen to the whole answer, but I was wondering what inspired you to try to become a director and even an actor?"

I smiled at the upcoming thought. "It was my _zia_. She was always dramatic in her own way and she's an amazing actor, even if it's not what she wanted to do as a career. As silly as it may sound, we would always play pretend when she would come around and I liked it. I liked to pretend that I was someone else or even something better than I am now. I know I'm not the best, but I know that I can get better and knowing that only makes me more encouraged to work harder to reach my goal."

He nodded. "That's very honorable of you."

"Thanks."

"And, Mademoiselle Bustier, maybe if we have time during our class, could we watch one of Romano's films?" Other students chimed in agreeing with him which made me feel slightly embarrassed that they wanted to do such a thing.

"Of course, if Romano doesn't mind."

"No, it's fine, if they really want to," I chimed in.

Mademoiselle Bustier nodded. "Well, thank you for introducing yourself, Romano. You may go back to your seat." I nodded and quickly went back to my seat. "So, for the sake of Romano, I will explain how each morning goes for our class. Every morning, I like to have an exercise where I pair everyone up and they have to compliment the other. Marinette, Alix, why don't you two come up and give us an example?"

Two girls stood up, one from each side of the room, and they walked towards the front. They faced each other and smiled. "Well, Alix," The pig-tailed girl started, "I think that your art style is very unique and very inspiring to look at."

The shorter girl gave a curt nod. "Thanks, Marinette. I think... that you're very kind and caring for others."

"Wonderful. Thank you for the perfect example," Mademoiselle Bustier gently patted their shoulders and they both walked back to their seats. "See, Romano? It's a complimenting exercise. I like to have everyone in my class to be kind to one another and perhaps even become friends. I won't force you to come up yet. I'll let you get to know everyone just a bit more before you can join in."

I nodded. "Okay."

"Now, let's see who's next?"

During the rest of my homeroom period, everybody else in the classroom went up to do the exercise before the bell rang. Between classes, Mademoiselle Bustier explained how I attend my core classes with the people in my homeroom, but my extra classes - theatre, art and my free period - are spent with a mixture of my classmates and students from other classes. Along with explaining how my classes worked, she gave me the books I needed for my classes before starting her class with us, which was Reading and Comprehension. After the class ended, she had shown me the lockers and gave me my own combination. I thanked her for everything and opened my new locker to put away my things.

"So, how do you like it so far?"

I looked up from my position on the ground and smiled at Alya. "It's pretty good. If anything, it just gives me a little headache from getting so much information all at once." I stood up, holding my schedule. "Everybody seems nice, though. I'm excited to meet everyone and make some friends here."

"That's great!" She nodded her head towards my schedule. "What are you supposed to have now?"

I looked down and furrowed my eyebrows as I tried to read the French words. "Theatre with Madame Barrett, and then I come back to do Chemistry with you guys."

"Romano, right?" A new voice entered.

I looked up and saw one of the girls from earlier. I nodded. "Yes. I'm also fine with being called 'Roma.'" I held out my hand for her to shake. "You're Marinette, right?"

"Yes, it's nice to meet you," she told me as she shook my hand.

"So, what do you do, Marinette?" I asked as I placed my schedule back into my bag.

"What do you mean?"

I slung my bag over my head and onto my shoulder. "You know, like Alya is basically a mini journalist blogger," I looked at Alya. "Which, by the way, I have to talk to you about, but it could probably wait until later."

Alya smiled. "Of course." She slung her arm around Marinette's shoulders, pulling her closer. "Marinette here is a little fashion designer."

The shorter of the two blushed. "It's no big deal."

"Wow, that's interesting. Maybe you could show me, sometime."

"Oh, sure," she beamed.

"Anyways, I should start heading to the Theatre, now." I placed my bag back on my shoulder and shut my locker closed. I moved to walk past them as I waved to them. "See you ladies after class." I walked to the doors to the locker room and paused. I turned around and awkwardly scratched the back of my neck. "Come to think of it, I don't actually know where the theatre is."

"I can show you," The blonde boy, Adrien, if I remember correctly, spoke up. He closed his locker and adjusted his bag. "If you don't mind, of course."

"Of course not. I would really appreciate it."

"Well, let's go."

I allowed him to go ahead of me so he could lead me to where I needed to go. I followed him out of the school in silence. I walked by his side and looked around the school so I could get used to it. I gripped my bag strap with both of my hands and gently bit my lip. _Perhaps I should say something so it won't be so awkward?_ "So-" I turned to look at him.

"I was wondering-"

We both stared at each other for a second before speaking again. "I'm sorry." I took a step away from him to let others past as we exited the school.

"No, no, it's fine. Go ahead." We reached the bottom of the steps and I followed Adrien as he turned left.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. "I was just going to ask what you do? If you don't mind me ask-" I ran into an advertisement column. I rubbed my forehead and laughed at myself. "Oops."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." I looked up at the column and was surprised to see Adrien. "Oh, no need to answer my question." I patted the large photograph of Adrien as I walked around it. "You're a model."

He chuckled. "Yeah. My father is a fashion designer and I'm the one who shows off his works."

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

"What were _you_ going to say?"

"Ah, well, I was wondering about what you thought of Chat Noir and Ladybug. I saw you on Alya's blog and I thought it was really cool of you to help out like that."

"Oh, thanks." I thought back to yesterday. "They were pretty cool, but then again, I just got here, so what do I know?" I smiled to myself. "But I do hope I get to do it again."

I looked at him and he smiled at me. "I'm sure you will." He paused and pointed forward. "Just keep on heading straight and the theatre should be on your left."

"Thanks, Adrien. I hope we can talk to each other more."

"So do I." He waved at me before turning around and walking back towards the school.

I returned the wave as I followed the path he gave me.

I pushed open the door to the theatre hall and looked around before stepping inside. I whistled in awe and looked around the large building.

"I'm sorry, this place is reserved for the Theatre class of _Collège Françoise Dupont_."

I turned around and saw a small girl who looked at me with dark narrowed eyes. She was leaning against one of the counters in the room. "Oh, I was told to come here." I walked towards her and held out my hand for her to shake. "My name is Romano. I'm a new student."

She looked at my hand before turning away from me. "Mom, that new student is here!"

I pressed my lips together and had my other hand grab the one that was left to hang to have some sort of comfort.

A woman with wild curly hair popped up from behind one of the concession booths. She shouted out in glee and clambered over the counter before running over to me. She grabbed my face with both of her hands and inspected my face. "Amazing! Such strong, yet soft features, your sun-kissed skin that wonderfully brings out those freckles of yours," she gasps, "Oh, and your eyes! Such a beautiful hazel." She let go of my face and grabbed my arm, extending it out. "And you have such a proportionate body." She let go and took a step away from me, sighing happily as if I were a work of her own. "You could just tell that you're going to grow into a handsome man."

"Uh, thanks?"

"Oh! How rude of me, I didn't even introduce myself. I am Madame Barrett and I am _very_ happy to have you with us." She clasped her hands together. "Now, that our class is all here, why don't we get started? Come, come. Oh, and Lucetta, play nice with him." She turned on her heel and flamboyantly walked into the auditorium.

I glanced at the girl who only scowled at me. " _Don't_ expect me to make friends with you," she told me coldly. She turned and walked away in a huff.

"I don't really expect that," I said under my breath before following her inside. I continued to look around in awe as I made my way down the aisles towards a small group of students who were chatting away with each other.

"Okay, class, settle down, please. As you all know the drill, get onto the stage and form a circle. I placed my bag down into one of the chairs before following the others on stage. I took my place between a boy my height and a girl that was taller than the rest of us. "Before we start our exercise of the day, I would like to introduce our new student, Romano Calligaris." She gestured her hand towards me and I gave a small wave to the others. "He is here to act in an upcoming movie and I hear that he has done a bit of directing of his own. Isn't that correct, Romano?"

"Yes, it is."

"And some good news following that," She walked over to me and pulled me towards the center of the circle. "Romano will be directing our fall play! Isn't that exciting? The boy who created the brilliant film _La Vérité_ will be helping us! Why don't we give him a round of applause?" She told the class before clapping.

The students joined in. I looked at the students that stood before me. Some claps were genuine, others were just out of spite.

"How come he gets to direct it?" The claps slowly stopped and I looked at the girl from earlier, Lucetta. "From previous interviews, he states that he knows nothing about the art of theatre and he has never taken any classes before. The job of the director should be taken up by someone with more experience."

I smiled at her which made her nose wrinkle in disgust. "I suppose you have much more knowledge in this industry than I do?"

She scoffed. "Of course I do!"

"Then how come I, somebody with "no knowledge," can create a story better than most adults working in the same industry?" I let my smile fall. "I think it all falls down to raw talent, despite how much knowledge we have and clearly," I felt the corner of my mouth twitch and I couldn't help a smirk from forming. "One of us has more talent than the other."

A chorus of "ooh's" came from the class and a voice from behind me spoke up. "He _totally_ just kicked you off your high horse, Lucetta!"

"I mean, she practically asked for it," Another voice chimed in.

"Okay, okay," Madame Barrett spoke up. "Settle down, please. Romano, you can go back to your spot." She nudged me back to the spot where I decided to stand. "How about we start our class with a warm-up?" She asked us as she clasped her hands together.

Lucetta and I made eye contact with each other once more. Her dark eyes narrowed and I only winked back at her.

* * *

5,541 Words  
This chapter is basically Part 1 of his first day. I tried to include all the important details to the story. The rest of the day will be in the next chapter.

 _French_  
Cher mon Italien préféré - Dear my favorite Italian  
Cordialment - Sincerely  
Je vous remercie - Thank you  
Professeur de théâtre - Theatre Professor  
Blanche Neige et Les Sept Nains - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs  
J'ai fini - I'm finished

 _Italian_  
Che cavolo - Geez/ What the hell?  
È strano - That's strange  
Zia - Aunt


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